Seldom, however, do Giant fans get the chance to laugh at the Dodgers. Losers hold their tongues.

But Tuesday, the Dodgers gave 22,408 fans here a good belly laugh with a loss that was over before the Giants made it once through the order.

The Giants, in fact, went through the order once without making an out, scoring seven runs on seven hits, two Dodger errors and two walks against two Dodger pitchers.

For all Lasorda knows, that might have been a disenchanted Dodger fan who tossed the bone.

Dennis Powell lasted the first five batters, long enough to be charged with five runs that caused his earned-run average to more than double, from 2.19 to 5.84.

The Dodgers made as many errors (3) as they scored runs in running their record to 4-11 and falling 6 1/2 games behind the Giants.

The Giants, who ended up with 14 hits, including four by Chris Brown, ran their record to 10-4, best in the majors.

"I'll say this," said Giant pitcher Mike Krukow, who lined a bases-loaded single to make it 9 for 9 (including two walks) for the Giants in the first.

"At this time last year, we were 4-10, but nobody was feeling sorry for us.

"There's not a guy on this club who doesn't have a lot of admiration and respect for (Pedro) Guerrero. But the effect (of Guerrero's loss to injury) is benefiting us.

"In baseball, like in all athletics, it's dog eat dog."

Seldom have the Dodgers been part of such a howler. Lasorda said he'd never seen such an inning, meaning one in which the first nine batters reached base. Neither had Dodger right fielder Mike Marshall.

"You really don't want to see your pitchers knocked around like that," Marshall said. "But that's the way it's going with this team.

"Hopefully, this was the climax to all our problems. Maybe we ended it with a real big bang."

There was a big bang in the Giants' big inning as Dan Gladden barreled into Dodger catcher Mike Scioscia on Rob Thompson's base hit to right field. Gladden, who had opened the inning with a walk and taken second on Powell's wild pickoff throw, scored on the hit.

Marshall's throw pulled Scioscia to the right side of the plate, but Gladden hit him anyway.

"I wasn't even near the plate," said Scioscia, whose two-run homer in the third accounted for almost all the Dodger offense.

"I don't know what Douggie was doing," Scioscia said in reference to Gladden. I wouldn't call it cheap. Doug's an aggressive player, but maybe he got a little overaggressive."

Said Gladden, when asked about the play: "It sounds to me like somebody's trying to start (something). All I saw was Scioscia coming back to block the plate."

In 1952, the Brooklyn Dodgers had a record 19 consecutive batters reach safely in the first, but that was after the leadoff batter, Billy Cox, had grounded out.

In the afternoon editions of the San Jose Mercury-News, the headline bannered across Page 1 of the sports section read: "Bay Area Sits Atop Baseball World."

Above the headline, in small type, it read: "Clip and save."

Maybe the rest of the world can be blase about a first-place team in April. But here--where the Giants haven't been in first this far into a season since 1978--it was cause for celebration, made all the sweeter because it was the despised Dodgers who were getting hammered.

All the elements that have made the first three weeks of the 1986 season the worst start in L.A. Dodger history were present Tuesday, only magnified to ridiculous proportions in the Giants' first at-bat.

After Gladden scored, Brown slipped another grounder past Steve Sax, sending Thompson to third, Jeffrey Leonard, swinging at a 3-and-0 pitch, hit a soft liner to center. Ken Landreaux hesitated, made a half-speed approach toward the ball, then kept going past it. Thompson scored, and the Giants had runners on second and third after Leonard's single and Landreaux's error, his fourth of the season. That's a stunning total for an outfielder. So far, Landreaux has made one more error by himself than the St. Louis Cardinals have made as a team.

When Chili Davis lined a double into the left-field corner, Powell was through.

In came Carlos Diaz, making a rare first-inning appearance. Diaz, who never has started a game, promptly gave up an run-scoring double to Bob Brenly, and it was 5-0. Dan Driessen, playing for the injured Will Clark (bruised left index finger) walked, and Jose Uribe singled, loading the bases.